Happily Never After
by CayleeElizabeth
Summary: "So an Original Vampire-Werewolf-Zombie-Hybrid walks into a bar…" Epilogue - and in the end this story ended much like how it began.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N – Here's a crack one-shot that involves a botched wedding, a bag of Cheeto,s and of course zombies. I know there's a bunch of zombie stories out there so thanks for giving this one a shot. Don't forget to Review – I live for your reviews!**_

_**Happily Never After**_

Caroline sat on her couch, cowboy boot clad feet crossed and resting on the coffee table, her ivory lace wedding dress torn above her knees. _'Zombieland' _played on her large LCD TV while two loaded shotguns rested next to her, propped up against the armrest of the couch. Caroline was busily jotting notes down on a lined scratchpad while she scarfed down a bag of Cheetos.

Today was supposed to be the happiest day of her life; the day she became Mrs. Mikaelson. Instead, her Original Hybrid fiancé along with half of the town decided to turn into The Walking Dead, thus ruining her happily ever after. From everything she's seen and read about zombies, they were supposed to be pretty slow, limping around with broken ankles and possibly a missing foot. Apparently, that rule didn't apply to vampire/werewolf/zombies however. Granted, "Klaus" wasn't as fast as he was in his original state (no pun intended) but he was still a lot faster than the average "walker", forcing Caroline to tear the long skirt of her wedding gown so that she would actually be able to run without falling on her face and becoming a happy meal.

Caroline pushed 'pause' on her remote and glanced down at her notes. Sure she was a vampire, which probably increased her survival rate by a lot, and she was pretty sure zombie's would prefer living human brains as opposed to dead vampire ones, but Caroline was always one to be prepared and ready for anything. Planning for The Zombie Apocalypse was no different than planning for Senior Prom she had surmised. Besides, it gave her something tangible to focus on. If she didn't focus on this she'd surely be a babbling mess curled up in the fetal position on her bathroom floor. Caroline took her pen and began checking off her list.

**Cardio** – well she definitely had that on her side, what with her vampire speed and all. Check and double check for **Limber Up** – as long as she had an ample supply of blood bags she would stay fast and strong. Caroline tapped her lip with the pen as she continued down the list.

**Seatbelts** – eh, we'll go ahead and check that off with Cardio and Limber Up.

***Beware of bathrooms** – Caroline put a little star next to that one. She didn't want to think about a zombie chewing on her ankle while she was taking care of business.

********The Double Tap** – Caroline put two big stars next to this one and underlined it as well for good measure. This was an important one. Leaning forward, Caroline checked her backpack that lay on the floor next to the shotguns. It was filled with shotgun shells. Thank God her mother was Sheriff and always kept weapons in the house.

Caroline dug her hand into the bag of Cheetos when she heard a creak come from her front porch. In a flash she was upright, shotgun in hand and pointed at the front door. From behind the curtained window she could see a talk dark silhouette.

'_Ding Dong' _

Caroline almost jumped out of her skin from the sound of the doorbell. She hadn't gotten even half way through _'Zombieland' _yet, but she was _pretty_ sure that zombies didn't ring doorbells. Keeping the shotgun in hand she slowly stepped to the front door, pushing the curtain covering the window to the side with the nose of the gun. Outside stood Damon. Quickly she unlocked the deadbolt (cause that'll stop those evil brain munchers) and swung open the door.

"So an Original Vampire-Werewolf-Zombie-Hybrid walks into a bar…" Damon says with his stupid smirk. Caroline narrows her eyes and jabs the butt of the shotgun towards Damon's perfect face making him duck.

"Not funny, Damon" Caroline grinds out through her teeth.

"Is that a _Cheeto_ in your hair, Blondie?" Damon asked as he pulled what in fact was a stray Cheeto out of Caroline's blonde curls. Caroline swatted at his hand.

"What the hell are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be out on Mission: Keep Elena Safe or something?" Caroline asked as she put the shotgun down by her feet and crossed her arms. Damon shrugged.

"Stefan's rounding everyone up. He asked me to swing by and grab you." Caroline stepped out of the doorway so Damon could enter and went back to the couch, pushing 'play' on the remote. Damon raised an eyebrow as he stood behind the couch.

"Zombieland? Really?" Caroline shrugged as she picked up her notepad and pen.

"I'm doing research." Damon leaned over the back of the couch and snatched up the bag of Cheetos, popping a few in his mouth.

"Seriously? There are so many better zombie movies to choose from." Caroline pointed to the stack of DVD's sitting on the coffee table.

"I have them all."

"Whatever, we don't have time for this anyway Blondie. Pack your bags and let's go." Caroline sighed as she once again hit 'pause'.

"Where are we going?"

"Not sure exactly. I'm kind of hoping that this nonsense is only going on in Mystic Falls. Considering the town's track record, it's definitely plausible." Damon grabbed the two shotguns as Caroline stood and zipped up her backpack before tossing it to him. "Are these the only guns you have here?"

"There's a few pistol's in the gun cabinet. I was going to leave them here for my mom," Caroline said.

"Grab them. They have enough weapons at the Station. And make sure you pack a bag of clothes. I'm pretty sure you're gonna wanna get out of what's left of that wedding dress sometime in the near future," Damon said as he slung the backpack over his shoulder. "I'll meet you outside."

Twenty minutes later, Caroline walked out of her house with two duffle bags; one full of clothes, and a few personal mementos, while the other was filled to the brim with blood bags. She certainly didn't want to have to feed off of humans at this point and risk contracting the virus. Caroline had strapped a chunky brown belt around her hips and had stuck a couple pistols into it for easy access. The other two were stowed away in the side pocket of the duffel bag filled with the blood. Damon was leaning against his car, shotgun in hand, a couple of zombie corpses laid on the street a few yards away.

"It's about time, Barbie. I'm all for murder and mayhem but this is insane."

"Sorry," Caroline grumbled as she threw her bags in the backseat and climbed into the passenger side. Damon hopped into the drivers' seat and started the ignition. As the car slowly moved down the too quiet street towards the boarding house, Caroline couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt wash over her. "I think we should stay Damon." Damon's raised eyebrow was his only response so Caroline decided to continue. "I mean, we're vampires. We probably have the best chance of survival and if we can save the few people left in this town…." Caroline trailed off as she looked up at Damon expectantly.

"So what, you want to be a superhero now? Do you have no sense of self-preservation at all Blondie?" Damon asked as his fingers tapped on the steering wheel. Caroline shrugged.

"I'm just saying….I think we can help." Damon stared at Caroline for a long moment as he ground his teeth.

"Fine, text the Scooby-gang and let them know there's a change of plans." Caroline smiled broadly and pulled her phone out of her cowboy boot.

"Thanks Damon." Damon rolled his eyes.

"Let's go kill some zombies."


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N – Ok so this was supposed to be a one-shot but I had this crazy dream last night that involved zombies and Dunkin Donuts coffee so I just had to post this little drabble. Oh and I really shouldn't have to say this, but please don't copy my stories, translate them into French, and say that it's your own – when clearly it's not. I know they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery or whatever but stealing someone else's story is really lame – just sayin'. Anywho – I don't really know what's going to happen with this story now – so let me know if you want another chapter and I'll see what I can do for you all. Reviews = love! 3**_

II

Have you ever craved for something so badly that you could taste it? Caroline has, which is why she found herself driving through the outskirts of Mystic Falls in the very early morning hour, desperately searching for a Dunkin Donuts that was open and had coffee. The thought of an extra-large, extra light, extra sweet coffee made her mouth water and she wasn't going to stop driving until she found it. Oh, I know what you're thinking. Caroline, are you crazy? You're in the middle of The Zombie Apocalypse; you should not be wasting precious fuel, driving around trying to find coffee! Funny thing about zombie apocalypses, once three-quarters of the population is wiped out; the demand for fuel suddenly isn't so great.

Caroline puffed on her cigarette, yeah yeah, but there are zombies, and she's a freaking _vampire, _and it's not like she's going to die from lung cancer. So anyway, she puffed on her cigarette as she drove, the sky gray as the sun had not risen yet. She had been up for almost 48 hours straight, on a never ending zombie killing spree as she and her friend's waged war against the evil brain munchers. From the reports on the radio, there were a group of scientists working on a vaccine for the virus. Caroline had visions of Will Smith in that movie….John Legend? No, he's a singer, that's not right. You know, where he's in NYC with the dog, driving in a mustang trying to shoot a deer and he talks to mannequins. I Am Legend! That's it. God she really needed some sleep.

Caroline swerved, avoiding the corpses that lay on the road as she flicked the butt of her cigarette out the window. Ahead in the distance she saw a lit up sign that glowed orange and pink. _'Please, please please' _Caroline thought to herself as she pushed the gas pedal to the floor. _Yes!_ It was in fact a Dunkin Donuts. Tires screeching, she pulled into the parking lot, noticing that not only was the sign lit up, but the lights were also on inside, giving a hint of human life. Caroline squealed with happiness as she cut the engine, grabbed her shotgun and hopped out of the black Cadillac Escalade that she had nabbed a few days ago. Slowly she pushed open the door and saw two pimply faced teenage boys standing behind the counter. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee invaded her senses causing her mouth to water almost uncontrollably.

"Can we help you?" One of the boys asked as if it was a normal morning, not the end of the world. Caroline stepped up to the counter, laying her shotgun and leather satchel on top of it.

"You boys sure know how to brighten a girl's day," Caroline said happily. "I'm going to need two extra-large coffees, extra light and extra sweet." Caroline looked at the wall of donuts behind the boy. "Are those any good?" she asked pointing at the sugary treats.

"Just a day old miss," the boy said. Caroline nodded and pointed to the glazed donuts.

"I'll take two glazed as well." The boy turned and put the two donuts in a paper bag and put her order on the counter. Caroline dug through her satchel, money was no longer of any use to really anyone anymore so she pulled out a box of shotgun shells instead for payment and pushed them towards the boy.

"Is this enough?" The boy nodded and took the box of ammunition.

"Have a good day!" Caroline said excitedly as she grabbed her bounty and walked out. Opening the car door, she placed the cups of coffee in the cup holder and tossed the bag of donuts and her satchel in the passenger seat. Turning, to get in, she suddenly heard a low guttural moan come from behind her.

"Shit."

Quickly she turned. Just a couple feet away a Walker limped towards her. The smell of rotting flesh overwhelmed her and she quickly aimed her shotgun and fired. The torso of the zombie exploded in front of her, splattering onto her t-shirt and jeans. Caroline cringed as she took a couple steps closer to the fallen zombie and took another shot to its head. Turning back to the Escalade, she tossed her shotgun onto the floor of the passenger side and climbed in. Grabbing a roll of paper towels out of the glove compartment she wiped the zombie guts off of her arms and hands before pulling out of the parking lot. Once on the road, she popped open the top to her coffee and took a long savory sip of the delicious beverage, relishing for a moment, the simple pleasure of a good cup of coffee.

Pulling back into the driveway of the boarding house, Caroline saw Damon sitting on the steps outside smoking a cigarette. Climbing out of the SUV, Damon's eyebrows raised as he noticed the blood covering her clothes.

"What happened to you, Blondie?" Caroline rolled her eyes as she sat down next to him, handing him the second cup of coffee and bag of donuts.

"What the fuck do you think happened?" she said before taking a bite out of one of the glazed donuts.

"Thanks for breakfast," Damon said simply.

"Whatever."


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N – Boy this is turning into a bunch of random drabbles, isn't it? I have to say I'm having a lot of fun writing Daroline. I hope you're having just as much fun reading it. Thanks for those of you who take the time to review, and follow, and favorite, and all that jazz. I know that this is a crack story – so I apologize for the lack of plot and well you know structured writing – I don't even know if this qualifies as a story – but whatever. **_

III

Caroline sat at the large wooden dining room table that no one ever really ate, cleaning her gun. Yeah, you never see that in the movies. Truth was, you had to keep your weapon clean if you wanted it to work properly. Chewing on a red Twizzler, because smoking was not allowed in the boarding house, she put all of her energy in the task in front of her. Suddenly, the front door opened, pulling Caroline out of her reverie, and in walked Damon, covered in blood, shotgun in one hand, cooler in the other.

"What happened to you?" Caroline asked, remembering him asking her that same idiotic question just a few days ago. Damon scowled as he laid his gun and cooler on the table.

"There used to be a time when I thought you were cute, Blondie," Damon said, sarcasm dripping off of every word.

"Yeah, there used to be a time when I thought you were charming," Caroline said with a smirk before taking another bite out of the Twizzler. Damon opened the cooler and dumped out about a dozen blood bags.

"This is all I could get," he said. Of course there would be a blood shortage during the freaking apocalypse. Humans were dying off left and right, taking their precious blood with them. Plus it didn't help that the hospitals were getting sneaky, hiding their supply of blood so that some certain creatures of the night couldn't steal them under their noses. Caroline groaned as she finished off the last of the red licorice.

"If I have to resort to bunnies, I swear," Caroline grumbled as she resumed the task of cleaning her gun.

"You swear, what?" Damon asked with raised eyebrow. Caroline looked up at him and his stupid eyebrow, suddenly feeling the urge to smack it right off his face.

"I swear, I'll turn into a zombie myself. Zombies don't eat bunnies," Caroline quipped as she pulled another piece of red licorice out of the candy bowl.

"Make sure you come by and see me when you're all Walking Dead-ish, so I can blow your brains out myself," Damon said as he sat down across from Caroline, looking at a map that lay on the table.

"Whatever. I'd totally bite you before you got a shot off, " Caroline said as she rolled her eyes. Damon reached over the table, grabbed a piece of hard candy out of the bowl and popped it in his mouth as he stared at Caroline for a long moment.

"You forget that I'm older and stronger, Barbie. You wouldn't stand a chance as a vampire or zombie." Caroline laughed out loud at the seriousness in Damon's tone.

"Please! I remember kicking your ass on at _least_ two occasions. That's the problem with you, you're all talk and no action," Caroline said in between fits of giggles. Damon's jaw hardened as he stared at Caroline, unblinking. Several different scenarios flashed through his mind as the bubbly blonde laughed at him. Most of which ended with her head rolling on his Persian rug. Without notice, Damon lunged over the table and pounced on Caroline, causing her and the chair that she was sitting on to tip backwards to the floor. Wrapping his hand around her neck in a vice grip, he let his fangs show as he lowered his face only inches from hers. Caroline, too stunned to react, looked up at Damon helplessly for a moment, acutely aware of the fact that his hard body was pressing against her in a very rigid and uncomfortable way.

"I will _end _you," Damon said in a low growl as he stared down at Caroline, icy blue eyes meeting sapphire. In a flash, Damon pushed himself off of Caroline and resumed his position, sitting at the table. Caroline quickly stood and grabbed her chair, throwing it at him. He ducked and the chair hit the wall behind him.

"Has anyone told you lately that you're a bipolar psycho case?!" Caroline screamed as she glared at him. Damon merely shrugged as he pointed at the map.

"I think we should try going to Richmond for more blood bags. You in the mood for a mini road trip Blondie?" Caroline continued to glare as Damon looked up at her expectantly. Sighing loudly, she grabbed a Twizzler and bit off a large chunk of it, envisioning Damon's head.

"Of all the people that I could be stuck with during the zombie apocalypse, why must it always be you?" Caroline said as she looked down at the map. Damon smirked as he grabbed his car keys and gun.

"Come on, it'll be fun, we can bond," Damon said as he started for the door. Caroline rolled her eyes and followed behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N – OMG this story is totally running away from me! I should really be working on Refusing to Run but I'm just having too much fun with this. Hey, are you guys noticing a theme here? Cheetos, Dunkin Donuts, Twizzlers…well hit me up with some more snack ideas and I'll add them into any new chapters I decide to put up. Thanks again for all the reviews and such, you make this joke of a story seem…I don't know….special. OK, enough with the blabbing – enjoy! T-**_

IV

The ride to Richmond started off uneventful enough, mostly filled with awkward silence and crappy alternative music. Finally after about twenty minutes, Caroline couldn't take it anymore and reached for the stereo to change the radio station.

"My car, my music," Damon said as he swatted at Caroline's hand.

"How can you listen to this crap?" Caroline whined as she again tried to reach for the radio dial. Damon once again swatted at her hand, a little bit harder this time.

"Oh, cause I'm sure your taste in music is _so_ much better. Sorry Blondie, really not in the mood for the Backstreet Boys, or Justin Bieber, or whatever the hell you kids listen to these days." Caroline sighed loudly and turned so that she was looking out her window once again. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a gas station. Bouncing up and down in her seat she grabbed onto Damon's leather clad arm roughly with one hand and pointed to the nearing gas station with the other.

"Ooh! Gas station up ahead! Stop so I can get something to snack on," Caroline said excitedly. Damon rolled his eyes as he pulled into the parking lot.

"It's probably abandoned," Damon mumbled as Caroline reached under her seat for a pistol and practically jumped out of the car.

"Always the pessimist, Damon Salvatore," Caroline said as she leaned forward, popping her head through the window. "Do you want anything?" Damon shook his head and Caroline turned, skipping her way to the convenience store. Not five minutes later she came back out with a fist full of Slim Jim's and a can of Dr Pepper. Hopping back into the passenger seat, Caroline waved a Slim Jim in front of Damon's face. "Slim Jim?" Damon, again shook his head as he looked at the stick of meat?, if that's what it could be classified under.

"I'd rather eat a bunny," Damon said all deadpanish, causing Caroline to laugh.

"Snap into a Slim Jim!" Caroline said gruffly as she peeled open the wrapper and took a bite.

"How do you even _know_ that? I know those Macho Man commercials were way before your time Blondie," Damon said with slight astonishment? Hmm maybe, yeah, we'll go with that. Caroline shrugged as she finished off the Slim Jim and cracked open her Dr Pepper.

"You Tube."

Damon rolled his eyes as he reached over and opened the glove box, pulling out a bottle of bourbon. Taking a long swig, he then offered the bottle to Caroline. Shrugging, Caroline put her can of soda in a cup holder and took the bottle of liquor from his hand. "You know, I think they have PSA's about this sort of thing," Caroline said before taking a swig. Damon watched as Caroline slid the bottle between her thighs and peeled open another Slim Jim.

"I never knew you ate so much _junk_." Caroline paused and looked at Damon with a sneer.

"You have your bourbon," Caroline picked up the bottle and shook it in front of Damon's face for emphasis. "well, I have my junk food," Caroline finished as she took a bite out of the Slim Jim.

Eight Slim Jim's and a half a bottle of bourbon later, Caroline was feeling slightly buzzed as they sat in the parking lot of the local hospital in Richmond. That uncomfortable silence once again suffocating them. Caroline stared out her window as the rain began to fall.

"I know what you're doing," Caroline mumbled as she drew a heart on the fogged up glass of the window. Damon took a swig of the bourbon then wiped his mouth with the back of the hand.

"What are you talking about, Blondie?" Caroline continued to stare out the window, refusing to look at him.

"You know, always being around lately, trying to keep me distracted from…" Caroline trailed off. Wiping a stray tear from her cheek she swallowed hard as she fought to finish her sentence. "from the fact that Nik's gone." Damon stared at the back of Caroline's head for a long moment, letting the unease of Caroline's confession wash over him. Clearing his throat, he finally spoke, stumbling over what to say.

"Yeah well, you know…Elena's always with Stefan lately, and Bonnie's always with Matt…..Trust me, you're not my first choice for company." Caroline let out a half laugh as she wiped away another tear. "But you're not my last choice either," Damon finally finished. Caroline turned so that she was finally facing him and half smiled.

"Yeah well, you definitely aren't my first choice either, but thanks I guess," Caroline said while Damon shifted uncomfortably in his seat. As a way to end this very awkward conversation, Damon pulled his shot gun out of the back seat and opened his door.

"Let's try to find some blood bags and get the hell out of here," Damon grumbled. Caroline nodded as she grabbed her pistol and followed Damon into the hospital.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N – OMG I love, love, LOVE, L-O-V-E you guys! I can't believe all the positive reviews I'm getting for the crap-shoot of a story. A couple of you have asked for some um *ahem* Daroline "action" so I tried to do that here for you. I'm really kind of crappy at the whole mushy stuff so I apologize if it really sucks.**_

V

Caroline sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket with a pint of ice cream; Ben & Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace to be exact. Funny when you think about it, considering the current state of things. 'The Notebook' played on the TV, Caroline's eyes red and puffy from crying, though not exactly from the movie. In the midst of her despair she heard footsteps coming down the stairs and silently prayed it would be anyone but a certain raven haired Salvatore. Caroline turned and frowned. No such luck.

"Whatcha watchin Blondie?" Damon asked as he plopped down on the couch next to her. Caroline pulled her feet closer to her body so that she wasn't touching him and wiped her teary eyes.

"The Notebook." Damon rolled his eyes and stretched his arm across the top of the sofa.

"I don't know how you girls can watch this crap." He turned and noticed that Caroline had clearly been crying. "Why watch something that makes you cry?" He asked frowning at the current mess that was Caroline. All t-shirt and sweatpants and messy ponytail. Caroline turned her attention back to the TV and stared at it blankly while she twirled her spoon in the melting ice cream.

"I guess we're just gluttons for punishment," Caroline said flatly before stuffing a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth. After several minutes of deafening silence and the small sliver of hope that Damon would leave her be slowly melted away, Caroline sighed and placed the now empty ice cream carton on the coffee table. "We were going to move to Paris and adopt babies, six to be exact," Caroline said still staring at the screen. Damon ran his fingers through his hair, suddenly wondering why he always felt the need to be around the baby blonde vampire.

"Like Brad and Angelina?" He wanted to laugh but knew now was probably not the best time. Caroline nodded as she wiped away fresh tears with the back of her hand.

"Yeah, something like that." Damon reached over and rubbed Caroline's leg through the blanket in a very rare form of affection.

"Listen Caroline, I know what it's like to lose the ones you love. It can be crippling and leaves you to the point where all you want to do is die along with them," Damon paused as Caroline looked up at him, the tears now falling freely down her cheeks. "But you're _strong_ and you'll get through this." Damon reached for her hand that rested on top of the blanket and stroked her knuckles lightly with his thumb. "If there's one thing I've learned over the years about you, it's that you got a lot of fight in you and you're never knocked down for long. You'll get through this. All of this."

"You called me Caroline." Damon raised his eyebrow in confusion. He basically just poured his heart out to her and that's what she comes back with?

"Excuse me?" Caroline smiled.

"Not Blondie, or Barbie, or annoying little twit, but Caroline." Damon shrugged and smiled slightly.

"It won't happen again." And with that Caroline suddenly lunged forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, once again leaving Damon completely and utterly baffled. Finally after a moment, he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back lightly. "Um, I don't really do the whole hugging thing." Caroline let out a half-laugh half-hiccup and pulled away slightly, but kept her arms loosely wrapped around his neck.

"Oh shut up and let me have my moment."

Damon stared down at Caroline's red puffy face as he lightly grazed his thumb over her cheek. Caroline looked at Damon, unblinking, her mouth open slightly, feeling her heart flutter against her chest. Slowly, Damon leaned forward and lightly grazed his mouth over hers causing her to gasp slightly against the gentle touch. Damon pressed his mouth more firmly against Caroline's lips, feeling them mold perfectly against his. Leaning forward, he slid his hand against her lower back and laid her back against the couch so that he was on top of her. The kissing became more frantic as Caroline moaned and writhed against Damon's hard body. This was getting all hot and heavy very fast and Caroline could feel her self-control wane. Suddenly they heard the front door open and in a flash Damon was back on his end of the couch, leaving Caroline nothing short of a hot mess.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" said the never present Stefan.

"Watching the Notebook," Damon and Caroline said in almost unison. Stefan shook his head as he walked towards the kitchen.

"You guys are weird."


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N – Hey hey hey! This one was fun to write. So glad I got past that mushy chapter *gag* But I know a lot of you loved it and I love you guys so I give you what you want. Laters, T-**_

VI

It had been three days since "the kiss". Damon had been avoiding Caroline like the plague, magically disappearing whenever she came within fifty feet of him. Thus, Caroline was left to her own devices, which is really never a good thing. So all of this could explain how she now found herself in the middle of Town Square standing outside of her Escalade in a very short, very low cut black strapless dress accompanied with super high black stilettos, radio blasting Pink, doing target practice on zombies. The sun was high and the zombies were plentiful, mindlessly attracted to the loud music. At Caroline's feet sat an opened bottle of cheap white wine and with each zombie that approached Caroline made sure to envision a certain Damon Salvatore in her head before firing. _'Bang!'_ Another one bites the dust.

Caroline bent down and picked up her bottle of wine, tipping her head back she took a long swig, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Damon's blue Camaro pulling around the corner. Putting the bottle back down she raised her shotgun and took aim, contemplating for a moment whether or not she should shoot out his tires. Hmm, not. Caroline lowered her gun as Damon parked his car alongside hers and stepped out with a pizza box in his hands. Turning her attention away from Damon she took aim at an approaching Walker and fired, Zombie guts splattering all over Damon's car.

"You mind?!" Damon half yelled as he cringed at the sight of his car.

"No," Caroline said simply as she fired another shot at another zombie.

"What's the deal Blondie?" Damon asked as he assessed the current situation that was Caroline Forbes.

"What do you care?" Caroline asked as she glared at Damon, aiming her gun at his face. Caroline fired again, the bullet grazing past Damon a little too close for comfort and hit a nearing zombie between the eyebrows. Damon growled low in his throat as he stalked towards Caroline and the Escalade. Reaching into her car he turned the key, cutting Pink off mid-chorus _'Just when I think it can't get worse I've had a shit day, you've had a shit day, we've had a shit –' _

"I don't know how you can listen to that shit," Damon said straightening himself back out of the car and resting the pizza box on the roof.

"What the fuck?!" Caroline yelled, throwing her gun to the ground and shoving Damon in the chest with both hands. To Caroline's disappointment, Damon barely flinched.

"Listen Barbie, I know I've been a dick the past few days, and I've come to make peace," Damon said reaching up for the pizza box and opening the lid, revealing a stuffed crust meat lovers' pizza from Pizza Hut. Caroline couldn't help but lick her lips at the sight. Damon walked to the back of the Escalade, opened the hatch and took a seat. Caroline grabbed her bottle of wine and sat next to him, kicking off her shoes and letting her feet dangle. "So are we good?" Damon asked as he handed her a slice of the pizza.

"For now," Caroline said before taking a bite. "I don't understand why you felt it necessary to ignore me the past few days though," Caroline mumbled through her mouthful of pizza. Damon shrugged.

"I don't really have an answer for you. I just…..I don't know. I'm stupid sometimes."

"Most of the time," Caroline corrected.

"Fuck you."

"You wish," Caroline said with a smirk. "Hey, don't you think it's funny that you were able to get a Pizza Hut pizza during the apocalypse?" Caroline asked as she looked down at the pizza curiously.

"Sometimes it's better not to question these things Blondie," Damon said as he looked up at the sky.

"Whatever. It's delicious."

"By the way, you were lookin' pretty hot in that dress firing that gun Blondie," Damon said as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. Caroline rolled her eyes.

"I know."


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N – I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get back to Refusing to Run. I think I'm subconsciously avoiding having to write Dark Caroline, because really I don't want to. So anyway, I honestly can't believe all the amazing reviews that I am getting for this story and you guys are really just awesome. So to reward you, here's another drabble where Damon gets to play Hero, he might just have to get a hero hair-do after this one ;) T-**_

VII

_For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. – Newton's Third Law of Motion_

There are moments in time, choices that we make, events that occur, that change everything that we thought we knew. Caroline's first choice seemed innocent enough. They needed blood bags and Caroline volunteered to go. The blood supply was getting scarce and it was getting harder and harder to find the precious life source. Caroline had gone hunting in the woods with Stefan in desperation but in order to remain strong they really needed the human stuff. Damon wanted to go with her but Caroline refused the company, insisting that she was a big girl and could handle herself just fine. Besides, she really needed some time away from the raven haired Salvatore.

It was dark, and pouring rain by the time Caroline left the boarding house that night. Throwing an empty duffle bag and her shotgun in the backseat of her Escalade she hit the road without a second thought. After about twenty minutes she felt a pang for some chocolate. Remembering that she had stashed a bag of M&M's in the duffle bag she unbuckled her seatbelt and reached behind her in an attempt to grab the chocolate candy. This was Caroline's second choice that night. Struggling to find the right pocket that held the candy she turned slightly, keeping one hand and one eye on the road as she fumbled in the back seat. After a couple of seconds she felt the plastic wrapper crinkle under her fingertips. _Success! _Before turning her full attention back onto the road she ripped into the candy wrapper with her teeth and popped a couple of the M&M's in her mouth. Savoring the chocolaty goodness, she turned around and re-focused on the road. Suddenly her headlights shined on a figure standing in the middle of the road. Time seemed to slow as Caroline stared wide eyed at the face of the zombie, her mouth open but no sound coming out, the wipers on her car swishing across her windshield, blurring the image of the Walker. Finally after what seemed like an eternity she snapped out of the trance and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands, pulling it hard to the right as she tried to swerve around the walking corpse. This was Caroline's third choice.

Caroline could hear the tires squeal and felt the SUV tilt onto two wheels as she struggled to regain control of the vehicle. Unfortunately, the gravitational pull was too much on the Escalade, causing it to roll, one, two, three times, as Caroline's eyes were fixated on a warning label attached to the visor: Warning: High Rollover Risk. The bag of M&M's flew out the window as Caroline was thrown around inside, her checklist flashing through her mind: Seatbelts. '_Yeah, way to ignore your own advice Caroline'_, she thought to herself before her head smashed against the windshield and everything went black.

xXx

Caroline was not the only one who made choices that night. Damon had made a few of his own. His first choice was blatantly ignoring Caroline's request to go out for blood bags on her own. Sure, she refused his company, but that didn't stop him from hopping into his Camaro and tailing the baby blonde vampire, refusing to address the nagging in his head that was asking him why he felt it necessary to follow her in the first place. Because in all reality, it's pouring rain and there's _zombies_ and Caroline is never really capable of avoiding catastrophes. Because, really, her life is one big accident waiting to happen, and though he'll never actually admit it, the annoying blonde is really all he has left in this shit hole of a world that they are now living in.

But this is Damon we're talking about here, and we all know how his plans always end in epic failure. So while Caroline drove on through the night, Damon had to stop at the nearest gas station because he's never really prepared for anything and his low fuel light is blinking red in his face, mocking him with each red flash. After fueling, he climbs back in and turns the engine over. Shitty pop music blasts from the speakers, because Caroline would not stop _nagging_ him about his 90's rock, but he doesn't turn the station as he presses on the gas in a desperate attempt to catch up to the black Escalade. Damon can't help but tap his fingers on the steering wheel as a new song comes on.

_'And it feels like I am just too close to love you.' _The rain was coming down in sheets and Damon's wipers struggled to keep up. _'There's nothing I can really say. I can't lie no more, I can't hide no more. Got to be true to myself.' _Damon squinted, as he struggled to see. Up ahead in the distance he thought he could see taillights off to the side of the road. _'You gave me more than I can return, yet there's so much that you deserve.' _As he got closer, he noticed that it was Caroline's Escalade on the side of the road, but something wasn't right. The truck was flipped upside down, metal and glass littered the road. "Damn it Caroline," Damon cursed as he pulled up behind the wreck. _'And it feels like I am just too close to love you…' _

Damon threw the Camaro in park and grabbed his shotgun before leaping out of the car. The rain drenched him as soon as he stepped out of the Camaro, the headlights of his car shined on the twisted metal in front of him. Taking a step he heard something crunch under his foot. Looking to the ground, he noticed brightly colored M&M's sprinkled the pavement. Shaking his head he neared the Escalade cautiously. "Caroline?" Nothing but a low grumble answered him. Raising his shotgun he turned so that he was facing the front of the overturned vehicle. A zombie, on all fours was struggling to break through the front windshield. Damon fired twice, blowing the head of the zombie clear off its shoulders.

Damon circled the SUV, making sure there were no other zombies trying to break into the vehicle. Finally he came back around to the drivers' side and crouched down. Through the glass of the drivers' side window he could see Caroline crumpled into a heap, he head resting at a weird angle against the dashboard. Punching through the glass he grabbed Caroline's arm and pulled her out of the wreck. "Caroline, are you ok?" Damon asked as he did an assessment of her injuries, quickly noticing that she was knocked out cold. "Shit," Damon hissed through his teeth as he ran his thumb over a bloody gash on her forehead. Pushing the sleeve of his jacket up he bit down onto his wrist and held it over Caroline's mouth, forcing the blood to trickle down her throat. "Come on, come on! You're a fucking vampire for Christ's sake!" Damon yelled as he ran his free hand over Caroline's soaked blonde locks.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity, Caroline came to, coughing against the blood that was still being force fed to her. Damon pulled his wrist away from her mouth as he let out a breath that he wasn't aware he had been holding and gently lifted her head, cradling it in his arms, her face pressing against the leather of his jacket as he murmured nonsensical praises to the lord and the angels and anyone else who would listen.

"Damon," Caroline mumbled against the leather jacket as she tried to pull away slightly. Damon only gripped onto her tighter.

"Shut up," Damon hissed as he picked her up and carried her to his car, gently placing her in the passenger seat. Caroline gently placed her fingertips against the bump on her forehead and winced. The gash had since disappeared but it was still pretty sore.

"How did you find me?" Caroline asked quietly as Damon climbed into the drivers' seat and pulled back onto the road.

"I have a sixth sense for damsels in distress," Damon said with his classic smirk.

"I'm sorry I didn't get the blood bags," Caroline mumbled as she looked down at her hands and Damon rolled his eyes.

"You shouldn't have gone out anyway. It's like you're a magnet for disaster Blondie. Really, it's amazing you've survived this long." Caroline let out a half chuckle and smiled at Damon.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N – OMG are you excited? I know you are! This is a follow up to the previous chapter. I think you'll like it. Quick shout out to all my faithful readers and reviewers – you guys put the 'awe' in awesome. For real, I love you guys! *big hug* Laters, T-**_

VIII

The next morning Caroline woke up with a dull headache. Stumbling downstairs in her pink flannel jammies and white rabbit slippers she trudged into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed a bag of gummi bears out of the pantry. Sitting at the large island in the middle of the kitchen, Caroline stuffed a fistful of gummi bears into her mouth, trying to put together the fragmented pieces of her memory of the night before, as she chased down the gummi goodness with her extra light and sweet coffee. After about 45 minutes of some serious memory recall, her headache was only getting worse and she really only knew one thing. She needed her shotgun. Grabbing her cup of coffee she headed her way back up the stairs and went straight to Damon's room. Without giving it a second thought, Caroline barged into Damon's bedroom without knocking.

"Damon? I need to…_ohmygod! You're naked!_" Caroline screeched as she quickly covered her eyes with one hand. Damon lazily rolled over on his red silk sheets and looked at Caroline with pure annoyance.

"Don't come barging into my room uninvited, screeching like a banshee about my state of undress. Get out Blondie," Damon said with a scowl. Caroline's cheeks flushed bright red as she kept her hand over her eyes.

"I need my gun," Caroline mumbled.

"You need your _what?_" Damon's level of annoyance with the blonde vampire was quickly reaching Def Con status 1. In a flash he was standing in front of Caroline, stark naked. Caroline stiffened, scrunching her eyes shut against the palm of her hand.

"My gun Damon. It's still in the Escalade." Damon grabbed onto Caroline's wrist and roughly pulled her hand off of her face. Caroline kept her eyes closed and just as roughly pulled her wrist out of Damon's grip.

"What the _hell_ are you _on_ Blondie? We have enough guns here. We don't need to go back there."

"Gummi Bears."

_"What?"_ Damon asked as he raked his hand through his hair completely exasperated. Caroline opened her eyes slowly, focusing only on Damon's face.

"I've had three cups of coffee and about a pound of gummi bears so far this morning and I really want to go get my gun." Damon sighed loudly and frowned.

"Seriously, Caroline? What am I going to do with you?" Caroline merely frowned. "Fine, go get dressed and we'll go get your fucking gun." Damon said as he gently gripped Caroline by the shoulders, turned her around, and pushed her out of his room with a gentle shove.

xXx

Fifteen minutes later Damon met Caroline downstairs thankfully or not, considering who you ask, fully clothed in his standard black jeans and t-shirt. Caroline stood by the door wearing a pair of cut-off shorts and white tank top, a travel mug of coffee in one hand and the bag of gummi bears in the other. Damon slipped on his leather jacket and Caroline handed him the coffee as they walked out the door. Caroline couldn't help but notice the peppy pop music that played from Damon's speakers as they pulled out of the driveway towards the main road. Smiling to herself but refusing to bring up the topic knowing that it would only end with whiny alternative music she popped a few gummi bears into her mouth and quietly hummed along with the music. From the corner of her eye she could see Damon roll his eyes but did not change the station. Caroline squinted as the wrecked black Escalade came into view.

"Oh my gosh, my_ car_!" Caroline half yelled half whined as she gripped onto the edge of her seat. As Damon slowed and pulled up behind the wreckage, Caroline opened the door and jumped out of the Camaro before the car came to a full stop.

"Jesus Caroline!" Damon yelled as he quickly threw the car in park and hopped out himself. Caroline was already at the Escalade, circling around the overturned vehicle, her hands over her mouth.

"My car, my car, my car," Caroline mumbled through her hands as she once again circled the wreck. Damon shook his head and got down on all fours. Punching through the passenger side window he reached in and pulled out Caroline's shotgun.

"Happy now?" Damon asked as he stood back up holding the weapon. Caroline shook her head as tears started to cling to her eyelashes. Damon rolled his eyes for like the millionth time in recent memory and wrapped one arm around Caroline's shoulders. "Hey, we'll get you a new one ok?" Caroline nodded but her bottom lip still quivered on the verge of complete meltdown in three, two, one.

"I loved this car!" Caroline sobbed, balling her fists into the leather of his jacket. Damon lightly stroked his hand through Caroline's blonde curls as her body shook in violent sobs, his leather jacket surely getting stained with salty tears and runny snot.

"We'll find another one just like it, I promise." Caroline shook her head as she continued to sob uncontrollably.

"There'll never be another one just like it!" Damon cocked his brow.

"Really? Cause I'm pretty sure Cadillac made thousands of black Escalade's Blondie." Caroline lifted her face and glared at Damon with her teary eyes. "Sorry," Damon mumbled as he gently patted Caroline's head. Caroline sighed and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. Pulling herself away from Damon's embrace she headed back to the blue Camaro.

"Well lets go find one then," Caroline said with just a twinge of sarcasm as she climbed back into the passenger seat. Damon extended his arms in disbelief.

"Now?"

"Yes, now," Caroline said as she stuffed more gummi bears into her mouth and beeped the horn a couple of times for emphasis. Throwing Caroline's shotgun into the back seat, he climbed in and glared at Caroline. "Don't look at me like that," Caroline said through a mouthful of candy. Damon merely rolled his eyes, yes again, before pulling back onto the road in search of Caroline's new car.

"I should have let the zombies get you."


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N – OMG are you guys for real? 100+ reviews?! I am completely and utterly humbled by all of the support you guys have given for this story. Um, a couple of shout-outs are needed. First of all to Starzee for the Pizza Hut suggestion that later ended up in Chapter 6. I know it's a little late coming but I should definitely give credit where it's due. Second shout-out goes to BloodBlackHeart for the inspiration for this chapter. Quick question for you guys, do you think I should upgrade this story to an 'M' rating? It seems like I can't stay away from the F-Bombs and I certainly don't want anyone to be offended. Ok that's it for now. Laters, T-**_

IX

It had been a long day, like a really long day, and as Caroline stumbled out of her newly acquired pearl white Escalade, because it was actually really hard to find another black one, there was only one thing on her mind. Skittles.

"Hello? Anyone home?" Caroline asked as she dragged her feet through the entryway of the boarding house. Silence.

After much debate, and some cursing, and a little shoving, and maybe a couple of punches (not saying between who, but you can take your best guess), the group had decided that it would be best for everyone to split up to find blood bags. It appeared as though Caroline was the first to return from the hunt. Entering the kitchen she tossed her duffle bag onto the island and went straight for the pantry.

Standing on her tiptoes she pushed aside boxes of rice and cereal, no Skittles, actually to be clear, no snacks what-so-ever. Frowning slightly she moved to a lower shelf. Pushing aside cans of corn and peas this time, still nothing. Not a chip, or a cookie, or a Skittle to be found.

"Seriously?!" Caroline moved to the freezer in the search of ice cream. An empty frozen abyss laughed at her face. Caroline slammed the freezer door shut and moved to the fridge. Nothing but old milk and a bag of baby carrots stared back at her. Caroline swore as she slammed that door shut as well and added a kick for good measure.

Thirty-two minutes later Caroline sat defeated on the kitchen floor, the lone bag of baby carrots in her hand. Boxes and cans and a bag of flour littered the floor. Every cabinet and drawer open and empty. Caroline tore into the bag of baby carrots and bit into one with a loud crunch and a scowl on her face. Caroline could hear the front door open and the unmistakable sound of Damon's footsteps approaching the kitchen as she bit down on another carrot.

"What's going on Blon…" Damon stopped mid-sentence as the scene in the kitchen met him dead on. "What the hell happened here?" He asked as he surveyed the crime-scene, his eyes finally falling on Caroline and the bag of carrots. "Are those _carrots_?"

"Skittles," Caroline said as she bit down on another carrot. Damon raised his eyebrows at Caroline's constant habit of vague one-word answers.

"No, those are _carr-ots_," Damon said as he crouched in front of Caroline.

"There's no snacks," Caroline said with a huff. "I_ really _wanted to taste the rainbow."

"Seriously?" Caroline nodded.

"Seriously."

"Here," Damon said as he took a metal flask out of the pocket of his leather jacket. "Give me the carrots, Caroline," Damon continued as he extended his free hand out to Caroline. Caroline's grip only tightened around the bag of carrots. Sighing, Damon reached for the bag of carrots and roughly pulled them out of Caroline's vice like grip. Caroline frowned as he pushed the flask into her now empty hand. Standing, Damon headed for the door. "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" Caroline asked as she looked up at Damon curiously.

"I'll be back in a few!" Damon yelled as he walked out of the boarding house.

"Wait Damon!" Caroline yelled. "Where are you _going_?" The roar of the Camaro's engine was her only response. Sighing, Caroline opened the flask and took a long swig.

Two hours and fifteen minutes later Damon returned to the boarding house. Walking in, he found Caroline passed out on the couch, the now empty flask laying on the floor next to her and The Powerpuff Girls playing on the TV. Shaking his head he placed a jumbo size bag of Skittles on the coffee table in front of her. Grabbing a blanket that was sitting on a chair, he covered her up and turned the TV off before heading up to his room.

Six hours and thirty seven minutes after that, Caroline awoke. Stretching and rolling to the side she fell off the couch with an inglorious thud. _'Oomph,' _Caroline mumbled as she raised her hand to the coffee table to help herself up. Feeling something plastic crinkle under her fingertips, she quickly sat up. _Skittles!_ A huge jumbo size bag of the rainbow candy greeted her. Caroline couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sight as she grabbed the bag of candy and hugged it to her chest tightly.

"Thank you Damon," Caroline said quietly to herself before tearing into the bag,


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N – OK two chapters in one day. Don't get excited this won't happen, probably ever again, but when I wrote chapter 9 and mentioned the fact that there was a brief brawl I had to explore it, because I really love it when Damon and Caroline fight. So hopefully this doesn't confuse anyone. Anyway – Enjoy! T-**_

X

_Dear Diary,_

_God why does Damon have to be such a Dick sometimes….most of the time….ALL THE TIME! I don't know who he thinks he is. Does he honestly think that I'm just going to nod my head yes and agree with everything he says?! And then when he realizes he was a total douche bag he tries to be all Mr Nice Guy and totally bribes me with Skittles! I swear someday I am going to stab him in the eyeballs with tweezers!_

Caroline tapped her pen against her lips as she thought back on recent events.

_(wavy lines, wavy lines, cut to flashback)_

"We need to get our hands on blood bags. Our supply is getting dangerously low and our local resources have been tapped dry," Stefan said to the group sitting around the large dining room table. Caroline looked around, seeing faces that she felt like she hasn't seen in weeks, except for Damon of course who was sitting next to her. Caroline popped a few Milk Duds into her mouth and chewed slowly as Stefan continued to ramble on. She swore sometimes that the only reason Stefan talked was so he could hear his own voice. Caroline groaned inwardly unable to take the incessant droning anymore.

"I think we should split up. We'll be able to cover more ground that way," Caroline said in between mouthfuls of candy. Damon slammed his fists on the table making Caroline jump in her seat.

"No effin way Blondie! The last time you went out on your own for blood bags I had to save your ass from becoming a Chinese buffet to a zombie. And what did I get as thanks? I got to drive you around for two days while you went car shopping!" Caroline glared at Damon as she threw a fist-full of Milk Duds in his face.

"I didn't ask you to play hero Damon!" Caroline screamed as she punched Damon in the arm. Damon growled low in his throat as he pulled on Caroline's golden curls.

"If I didn't 'play' hero, you'd be dead right now!" Caroline punched Damon in the arm again, this time hard enough that he was knocked right out of his chair. From the corner of her eye she could see Elena squirming uncomfortably in her seat. Rolling her eyes, Caroline failed to notice Damon jump back to his feet. Before she could react Damon pounced and was on top of Caroline who was now sprawled out on the floor. Caroline could hear Bonnie and Matt get up and leave the room as Damon wrapped his hand around her neck.

"Get off of me!" Caroline screeched as she pushed up against Damon with her knees causing him to flip over her, landing on his back. Caroline quickly jumped on top of him and punched him in the face.

"Ow! You crazy bitch!" Damon spat as he grabbed Caroline's flailing fists and rolled her off of him. Damon quickly stood, dragging Caroline with him and pushed her against the wall, pinning her arms over her head. Caroline hissed as she kneed Damon where it really counts causing him to suddenly double over in agony.

"That's enough you two!" Stefan yelled.

"He started it!" Caroline whined as she pointed her finger at Damon who was still crumpled over on the floor.

"She's a psychotic basket case!" Damon yelled through gritted teeth. Stefan crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at the pair sternly.

"Caroline has a valid point, Damon. We will have a much better chance of finding blood if we split up."

"Ha!" Caroline said triumphantly as she smirked at Damon who was now standing, but still hunched over slightly.

"Fine, but I don't want _anyone_," Damon glared at Elena, "crying to me when Blondie ends up being the main course at a zombie feast." Elena sighed loudly as she looked warily at Damon and then Caroline.

_(wavy lines, wavy lines, end flashback)_

"Hey Blondie, wanna do some target practice on some zombies?" Damon asked as he barged into Caroline's room. Caroline quickly slammed her diary closed.

"Ever heard of knocking?!" Caroline yelled as she struggled to discreetly hide her diary from Damon's line of sight. Yeah right.

"What's that?" Damon asked as he practically skipped to where Caroline was sitting.

"Nothing," Caroline said as she held the diary behind her back.

"Come on, let me see!" Damon whined as he reached behind Caroline. Caroline took a quick step back.

"Get out Damon!"

"Are you reading 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Blondie?" Damon asked as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. "You know, I always thought I would make an _awesome_ Mr Grey. Wanna test my theory?" Caroline rolled her eyes as she side stepped Damon.

"First of all, you aint got nothin on Christian Grey. Second of all, I don't read porn. Third of all, get out!" Damon smirked as he slowly back stepped to the door.

"You seem to know a lot about the subject considering you don't read porn Barbie." Without thinking, Caroline threw her diary at Damon's face. Damon caught it mid-air. "Ooh! Even better! A diary!" Damon practically squealed as he ran out of Caroline's room.

"Give it back!" Caroline screamed as she chased after him.

"Never!"


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N – OK after the shenanigans of the last two chapters I decided to do some good old fashioned Daroline bonding time here. I hope you like it. T-**

XI

Elena walked into the boarding house to the sound of music blasting from the drawing room. Standing at the threshold she noticed Caroline laying on her stomach, on the floor, in her wedding dress.

"Caroline?" Elena asked as she cautiously stepped into the room. No response came from the blonde vampire. "Caroline?" Elena asked again as she knelt down next to her. Elena struggled to look into Caroline's clouded eyes as her fingernails picked at the wax on the hardwood floor. "Caroline, are you ok? You're making me nervous."

'_Pick, pick, pick'_, on the hardwood. Elena frowned as she waved her hand in front of Caroline's face. Caroline didn't blink as she continued to stare off into space.

"I'll be right back, ok Care?" Elena said as she stood back up and quickly made for the steps up to the bedrooms. "Damon!" Elena yelled as she ran up the stairs as fast as her human legs would take her. "Damon!" Elena yelled one more time as she stormed into his room.

"Listen Elena, I'm not going to go through this with you again. Feeding zombies raw hamburger meat is not going to stop them from eating human brains. That's it. End of story," Damon said as flipped through a bright pink book? No, that looks like a diary.

"Is that a diary Damon?" Elena panted as she struggled to catch her breath from the run upstairs.

"No," Damon said as she slapped the diary shut and stuffed it under his pillow. Elena creased her brow. Why would Damon have a pink diary? Elena shook her head as she refocused on why she came up here in the first place.

"There's something wrong with Caroline, Damon." Damon quickly shot off of his bed and in a flash was standing directly in front of Elena.

"What's wrong with Caroline?" Elena shrugged slightly, uncomfortable from the closeness.

"I don't know. She's downstairs in her wedding dress and she won't look or talk to me and it's kind of freaking me out." Damon smirked as he started to make his way back to his bed.

"That's because you're boring Elena."

"It's not because I'm boring Damon! There is something really wrong with her, it's like her body is here but her mind is somewhere else. You've been the only one who's been able to get through to her lately. You need to fix this." Elena said as she stared at Damon sternly. She learned it from Stefan. Damon rolled his eyes as he exited his room.

"Fine, I'll go talk to Blondie. But I'm not making any promises here. We may just have to ship her off to the loony-bin if I can't get her back to the present," Damon said as he stomped down the stairs. Reaching the drawing room, a familiar song played from the speakers though he couldn't quite place where he'd heard it before. Looking down at the floor he found Caroline laying on her stomach in her torn wedding dress surrounded by tiny pieces of crumpled up silver aluminum foil. It almost looked as if she was laying amongst the stars, Damon thought to himself for a very brief moment, because you know Damon is not the romantic poetic type, and this all just getting a little too poetic for his taste. Damon drew his hand over his face as he looked up at the ceiling then back down at the blonde on the floor. Finally after a long moment he laid down next to Caroline. Laying on his back he interlaced his fingers over his chest and looked at the shell that is Caroline Forbes.

"You got Elena all worked up," Damon said as he stared up at the ceiling.

'_Pick, pick, pick,' _on the hardwood floor. Damon turned his head as he stared at Caroline's fingers with furrowed brow.

"Well _that's_ annoying," he said as he grabbed Caroline's hand and held it tightly in his. For a brief moment Caroline's eyes flashed back to life, but before Damon could blink they clouded back over. "Where have I heard this song before?" Damon pondered thoughtfully more to himself then directly to Caroline.

"The Mikaelson Ball," Caroline whispered quietly. Damon quickly looked at Caroline's face, but the clouds still loomed over her sapphire eyes. "It was the first time Nik and I danced. I thought for sure he had some ulterior motive. That he wasn't _really_ interested in me," Caroline smiled to herself as her memories took her back. "He complimented me on my dancing. I told him I was Miss Mystic Falls." Caroline's eyes suddenly focused on Damon. "Do you know what he said?" Caroline asked quietly as if she was about to divulge a very deep secret.

"What?" Damon whispered as he quietly studied her face.

"I know," Caroline said with a smile. "From the beginning I always tried to get one up on Nik, and every single time he always did me one better." Damon reached over and gently tucked a stray blonde curl behind her ear.

"Dance with me," Damon said quietly as he gently traced his fingertips over her cheekbone. Caroline creased her brow as she pouted in confusion. Damon slowly stood and silently held out his hand for Caroline to take. After several long moments, Caroline hadn't moved, and Damon was about to give up. "Dance with me Caroline," Damon said more firmly this time. Slowly Caroline pushed herself up off the floor and gently took Damon's hand. Caroline took a step towards Damon and instinctively Damon wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her in closer as he began to step in time with the music. Caroline followed his steps perfectly as she interlaced her fingers with his and looked into his eyes curiously. Damon began to feel increasingly uncomfortable under Caroline's gaze and instead shifted his eyes to the floor. "What's with the aluminum foil?" he asked.

"Hershey Kisses," Caroline said with a shy smile. Damon raised his brow as he looked back up at Caroline.

"You know, I'm starting to think you have a serious problem with junk food Blondie," Damon said as he spun Caroline. Caroline laughed for the briefest of moments as she looked at the crumpled aluminum foil at their feet.

"It's kind of like we're dancing on the stars isn't it?" Caroline said wistfully causing Damon to roll his eyes.

"Sure, or on litter," Damon said with his classic smirk. Caroline rolled her eyes as she looked up at Damon.

"Thank you," she said quietly. Damon grinned a more genuine smile this time as he once again spun Caroline.

"You're welcome Miss Forbes," Damon said as he slowly released Caroline as the song ended and took a bow. Caroline giggled as she did a curtsy.

"Oh Mr Salvatore, always my knight in shining armor," Caroline said as she straightened from her curtsy.

"Don't push it Barbie, you know there's nothing knightly about me. You really are hopeless you know that?"

"I'm not hopeless," Caroline retorted as she crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly not liking where this was going.

"_Really_? Have you read your diary?" And with that the moment was over as Caroline threw a lamp and Damon disappeared in a flash.


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N – Ok this was supposed to be up on Friday, but the power went out so my apologies. BTW – I think Damon is starting to catch on. **_

XII

The next morning Caroline skipped her way into the kitchen, finding Damon leaning against the counter sipping coffee and reading the newspaper because he's old fashioned like that.

"Morning!" Caroline chirped as she pulled her own coffee mug out of the cabinet next to Damon and proceeded to pour herself a cup.

"Going to cheer practice Blondie?" Damon asked as he eyed Caroline over the rim of his coffee cup. Caroline frowned slightly as she looked down at her cheer uniform.

"I was feeling nostalgic," Caroline said as she spooned a small mountain of sugar into her coffee.

"Nostalgic? For what? Pom-poms and Keds?" Damon asked as he handed Caroline the creamer.

"That, and I seriously have to do some laundry," Caroline said as she hopped onto the counter and sipped her coffee.

"Hmm," Damon murmured while he turned his attention back to the newspaper.

"What's up with you Mr Grumpy Pants?" Caroline asked as she kicked her feet against the cabinets. Damon shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just kind of over the whole Zombie Doomsday shit you know? I'm starting to feel like this story should have ended like three chapters ago and we're just beating a dead horse at this point. I mean, shouldn't this all be a little more apocalyptic? Instead, I'm drinking coffee, reading the newspaper, and you're sitting here in your fucking cheer uniform. Whose idea of a sick joke is this?"

"Well you know what they say, God has a wicked sense of humor. Just look at the platypus," Caroline said as she stirred the spoon in her cup of coffee.

"The platypus? Really?" Damon said as he swatted at Caroline with his newspaper. "I'm trying to be fucking serious here!" Caroline's fits of giggles was his only response. "Whatevs," Damon grumbled before taking another sip of his coffee.

"Ooh!" Caroline started, causing Damon to draw his attention back to the pretty blond. "Ask me what I want for dinner!"

"Really?" Damon asked with eyebrows raised in disbelief. Caroline's eagerness as she practically bounced off of the countertop affirmed that she was in fact dead serious. "What do you want for dinner Caroline?" Damon finally relented.

"Bar-b-cue chicken and cornbread!" Caroline said excitedly as she clapped her hands.

"Not gonna happen," Damon said as his eyes moved back to the newspaper.

"Well, all I really want is some Bar-b-cue sauce and cornbread," Caroline tried again.

"Still not gonna happen Blondie. Have you seen our food supply? We're lucky we have coffee," Damon said as he put the newspaper down on the counter and folded his arms over his chest.

"Well let's go grocery shopping then," Caroline said, refusing to give up.

"See! This is the shit I'm talking about! People don't go _grocery shopping_ during the apocalypse!" Damon yelled to the heavens. Caroline hopped off the counter and started walking to the door.

"God, stop being such a downer and just come on already! I'll let you listen to your crappy alternative music," Caroline tempted as she exited the boarding house.

Thirty minutes later Damon and Caroline found themselves standing just inside of the sliding glass doors of the local Stop & Shop, Damon armed with a shotgun while Caroline had a machete.

"I feel like we need a banjo," Caroline tilted her head and whispered.

"What?" Damon asked a little too loudly.

"You know, like in Zombieland," Caroline whispered as she swung her machete in front of her and started playing "air banjo" and mouthed the banjo twang over her tongue. A low guttural groan interrupted Caroline mid-twang as a bloated zombie appeared out of one of the aisles. "Holy shit! It's just like the movie!" Caroline half screeched with glee? Damon shook his head. Only Caroline would find this entertaining in a good way. "Watch this!" And with that Caroline cartwheeled herself to the zombie and swung her machete like a baseball bat, slicing the zombie in half.

"Gross Barbie!" Damon said while cringing at the sight. Caroline smiled broadly as she wiped the blood off the machete with the zombies flannel shirt.

"Do you think there's more?" Caroline asked as she scanned the grocery store.

"God I hope not. Let's just get the food and get the hell out of here!"

"Fine," Caroline grumbled as she stepped over the severed body and grabbed a basket.

Twenty minutes later the pair stepped out of the Stop & Shop with two plastic bags filled with frozen chicken, cause the fresh stuff wasn't exactly fresh anymore, bottles of bar-b-cue sauce, and boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix.

"Ooh! I'm excited Damon! This is going to be fantastic!" Caroline exclaimed as she happily skipped through the parking lot. "Let's do a big family dinner for everyone!" Damon rolled his eyes as he tossed the bags into the back seat of Caroline's white Escalade.

"It's not much of a dinner when all you have is chicken and cornbread."

"Seriously Damon?! Can you just pretend to be excited about this for like two fucking minutes?!" Caroline yelled as her cheeks flushed red with anger. Damon clenched his jaw but remained mute as he climbed into the drivers' side since after the whole roll-over incident he didn't exactly trust Caroline's driving abilities.

About an hour later the savory aroma of bar-b-cue chicken and cornbread wafted throughout the boarding house as Caroline stood in the kitchen, apron-clad and peeling sweet potatoes that she had found in the garden out back.

"Thank god for Bonnie and her green thumb," Caroline murmured to herself as she reached for another spud.

"You know, Blondie, this actually turned out to be not such a bad idea after all," Damon said while knelt over the oven basting the chicken with the tangy bar-b-cue sauce.

"Brilliant is more like it," Caroline said as she threw a potato peel. Caroline dumped the peeled potatoes into a large pot, added water, and placed it on the stove.

"Hey, what's that smell?" Bonnie asked as she strolled into the kitchen.

"Dinner," Caroline said cheerfully as she handed Damon the pan of cornbread.

"Really?" Bonnie asked slightly astonished.

"Yes, now here," Caroline replied quickly as she pushed a stack of plates into Bonnie's arms. "Go set the table."

"Well aren't you two quite the domestic pair," Stefan said entering the kitchen.

"Shut up and make yourself useful Brother," Damon said as he handed Stefan the pan of chicken.

Sitting at the dining room table, Caroline looked around at her group of friends, family really, that surrounded her, laughing and talking without a care in the world. Maybe Damon was right, she thought to herself, maybe it was crazy that they were all living a seemingly normal existence while the world around them fell to its knees. Either way, they were here and they had survived and they were going to keep on surviving because in the end that's what they did. They survived.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N – Starzee – this chapter is for you. I hope you like it. There is no mention of a snack in this chapter. I tried to stick to the theme but I couldn't find a way to fit it in here. Super excited for the season premiere tonight! Don't forget to review! Laters, T-

XIII

Damon walked into Caroline's room to the sound of ocean waves. On the floor was Caroline, in black shorts that were so short they probably classified better as underwear with matching sports bra and hot pink leg warmers. Caroline had her forearms resting on the floor and her hips pushed up into the air giving Damon an ample view of her backside and legs. God he would love to have those legs wrapped around his…wait what?

"The 80's called. They want their legwarmers back." Damon said while ogling Caroline's porcelain legs.

"You're funny," Caroline exhaled as she lowered her hips to the floor, arched her back, and stuck out her chest.

"What are you doing?" Damon asked as he took a step into her room.

"Yoga," Caroline said simply as she concentrated on her pose.

"For what?" Damon asked as he silently begged for her to go back to the previous pose.

"Clarity." Damon raised his eyebrow.

"What do you need clarity on?" Caroline exhaled again as she lowered her chest to the floor and grabbed her feet with her hands. _You…._

"Stuff."

"That sounds…..deep." Caroline sighed loudly and stood, realizing that her moment of zen was officially over.

"What do you want Damon?" Caroline asked as she wrapped her arms across her chest, feeling slightly exposed, considering the fact that her legs were the most covered part of her body at the moment.

"I wanted to return this to you," Damon said as he offered Caroline her bright pink diary. Damon cleared his throat as Caroline stared at the diary like she had never seen it before. "I…uh…added some notes, commentary, advice really…and uh some illustrations, though they're probably not as good as Klaus' artwork." Damon fumbled over his words as he pushed the diary towards Caroline. Caroline rolled her eyes and roughly snatched the diary out of Damon's hand and threw it on her bed. Damon looked at Caroline helplessly as she glared at him.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Caroline asked sharply, as her toe tapped on the floor. Damon clenched his jaw.

"What's the deal Blondie? I'm trying to _help_ you!" Damon growled as he took a step closer.

"Trying to help me?" Caroline screeched as she flailed her arms. "How exactly? By stealing my diary, reading it, then adding cliff notes?!" Caroline was fuming as she took a giant step towards Damon and shoved him hard causing him to almost fly out of her bedroom. Recovering quickly, he stalked back to Caroline, grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall. Gripping onto her wrists, he pinned them above her head and wedged his knee between her thighs as she struggled against him.

"Yes! I know it's not perfect, but it's what I have Caroline! I want to help you! I want you to be happy. I want you to get past the whole Klaus thing. I want you to stop drowning your sorrows in junk food. I want you to love again." Damon said in what began as a shout but ended in a whisper. Caroline could feel the tears well up in her eyes and struggled even harder against Damon not wanting to cry in front of him, not here, not like this.

"I'm not Elena, Damon. I don't need your help. I don't need to be fixed," Caroline said as she tried to cut Damon where it counts. Damon growled and pushed even harder against Caroline.

"For fuck's sake Blondie! I know you're not Elena! You were never Elena! You will never be Elena and I don't want you to pretend for even a moment that that is what I want you to be. You're neurotic, and a little crazy, and strong….so strong, and you love so deeply that it's scary. You know what you want and you go after it. You've got more fight in you than a thousand vampires, and you manage to make this crazy fucking world we live in at the moment seem not so bad. You're Caroline fucking Forbes and that's all you need to be," and with that Damon's lips came crashing down onto Caroline's. Damon knew Caroline had a lot of things to say after his rant, but at this moment he didn't want to hear any of it, so as Caroline mumbled and squealed and even screamed against Damon's mouth, he only pressed harder with his lips until finally Caroline whimpered and moaned and finally kissed him back, molding her lips to his. Damon slipped both of Caroline's wrists into his one hand, keeping them pinned above her head as he slid his free hand up the bare skin of Caroline's waist, and as Caroline wrapped her hot pink legwarmer clad legs around Damon's waist, for a brief moment, he felt complete and utter bliss.


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N – So glad you guys liked the last chapter…I liked it too. Quick shout-out to TeamStefanBitches. I got 5 :D's for the last chapter. That's gotta be a rave review since I normally only get 1 or 2 :D's. So thanks for that. Loved the season premiere, but was anyone else kind of hoping that Elena wouldn't be able to get her fingertips in the blood, and just die already? Whatever, I digress. Anyway the scenes between Caroline and Klaus/Tyler (Kyler) made my night. So don't forget to review cause I definitely love them, all of them. Another shout-out to Starzee for the inspiration for this chapter. Laters, T-**_

XIV

_"You promised you would let me kill zombies! I want to kill zombies!" Caroline screamed at Damon's back as she stomped her foot. Slowly Damon turned, but as Caroline continued to yell, Damon's face turned into Klaus' then turned again into an evil brain munching zombie._

"Aaah!" Caroline yelped as she bolted upright in her bed drenched in a cold sweat. _Woah. _Caroline rubbed her hands over her face as she tried to push the images of her dream out of her head. As the dream slowly faded away, some very real, very 'R' rated images of the night before came flooding in. Caroline looked down at her naked body, then next to her, to the empty spot on her bed where Damon was mere hours before. The panic in her rose quickly and she began to hyperventilate. There was only one thing that could fix this.

Caroline scurried out of her room as she fumbled with her robe and made a mad dash for the kitchen. Ransacking the pantry she finally found what she was looking for. Oreo's. _Success! _Grabbing the package of Oreo's, Caroline moved her way into the living room and plopped down on the couch.

Two packages of Oreo's and six episodes of Jersey Shore later, Caroline had yet to catch a sighting of a certain raven haired Salvatore. Damon's constant disappearing acts after any intimate moment between the two was seriously starting to give Caroline a complex.Stomping up to her room Caroline quickly got dressed then headed straight for Stefan's room. Hearing gasps and moans coming from the other side of Stefan's closed door, Caroline hesitated for a moment before knocking as she struggled not to throw up all over the floor. Caroline covered her ears with her hands as she tried to muffle out the _'oh yeah's' _coming from Elena, and the _'arrrrghs' _coming from Stefan, _and damn her supersonic hearing_, and tapped on the door with her foot. Caroline could hear Elena screech as she rolled and hit the floor, she could also hear Stefan cursing quite loudly as he hopped towards the door while fumbling with his pants. Caroline scrunched her eyes shut and kept her hands over her ears as Stefan swung the door open.

"What do you want Caroline?" Stefan asked clearly annoyed by the interruption. Caroline slowly opened her eyes and stole a glance past Stefan to see Elena crumpled on the floor, desperately trying to cover herself with the bed sheet.

"Um, have you seen Damon today?" Caroline asked as she moved her eyes back to Stefan. Sighing loudly, Stefan raked his fingers through his hair.

"Uh, this morning. He said he was going to The Grille I think. He didn't look like he was in a very good mood Care. You might want to just leave him alone today." _Seriously?!_

"Yeah, whatever, thanks Stefan!" Caroline said as she sprinted for the stairs and out the door straight to her Escalade.

Ten minutes later Caroline was parked in front of The Grille, staring at Damon's blue Camaro parked across the street. Caroline grabbed a baseball bat that was laying in the backseat and hopped out of the Escalade. In a flash, Caroline was standing next to the car, bat raised, ready to smash out the driver side window, when suddenly she heard a loud groan come from behind her. Quickly she turned and swung her bat at the approaching zombie's head. Once the zombie fell, Caroline continued to bash at its head until it was pulverized mush. Deciding not to smash in Damon's windows, Caroline opted instead to smear the bloodied bat along the blue paint as she headed for the entrance to The Grille.

"You've got some nerve Damon Salvatore!" Caroline yelled as she stalked her way to the bar where Damon was sitting, hunched over a glass of bourbon. "If you think you're just going to pretend like last night never happened, and ignore me for another three days, and then try to buy me off with pizza again, you've got another thing coming," Caroline continued as she slammed the bloody baseball bat down on the bar.

"Not everything is about you Blondie," Damon grumbled as he downed the bourbon. Caroline looked around The Grille exasperated as she struggled against the urge to swing the bat at Damon's head. Oddly, she noticed that there were five zombies tied to chairs sitting at random tables. _What the….._

"Really Damon?! What's with the zombies?" Caroline asked. Damon smirked as he eyed the room.

"You know, ambiance," Damon said with a wave of his arm. Caroline shook her head as she tried to refocus on why she was here in the first place.

"Seriously?! Whatever. If you're not here in some desperate attempt to avoid me, then what's the deal?" Damon shrugged as he poured himself another shot and downed it in one gulp.

"Do you know what today is?" Damon asked as he grabbed a second glass and poured bourbon into it.

"Um, Tuesday?" Caroline said as she took the offered glass and sipped the amber liquid, not completely sure how the liquor and Oreo's were going to mix.

"Today is the day that Ric died." Damon said dramatically.

"Which time?" Caroline asked before she could even stop herself. Damon stared at Caroline for the briefest of moments from the corner of his eye as she quickly tried to recover. "I'm sorry. That was completely inappropriate," Caroline started but was suddenly interrupted by Damon laughing. _Wait what…. _Caroline looked at Damon curiously. Never, had Caroline _ever_ heard Damon laugh. She honestly didn't think he was even capable of laughter. This definitely has to go down in the record books as one of the weirdest moments _ever_. "Are you ok?" she asked as she stared at Damon cautiously.

"Yeah," Damon said as he took a deep breath trying to recover. "It's just, that was really funny Blondie," he finished as he wiped a couple of tears from his eyes.

"Really?" Caroline asked still completely taken aback by Damon's behavior.

"Well yeah, I mean when you think about it," and suddenly Damon is once again laughing in hysterics. Finally after a couple of minutes Damon had managed to regain composure and filled both of their glasses with bourbon. Handing Caroline her glass he raised his in a toast, Caroline followed as she smiled at Damon. "To Ric," Damon said as he clanked his glass against Caroline's.

"To Ric," Caroline repeated before downing the shot.

_**A/N v. 2.0 – OK I don't really know what this was. An ode to Alaric Saltzman? A complete mental breakdown for Damon? I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter so let me know if it sucks, because I kind of think it does, but I spent too much time on this to just scrap it. Hopefully the next chapter will be better.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**A/N – Ok I'm currently going through a very deep self-loathing phase in my life where I hate everything I write. It's probably normal but it's really annoying and It's making me not want to post anything as of late. I'm not going to let this stop me from updating however. The idea for this chapter came from a pretty humorous conversation between my husband and I about TVD and Jersey Shore. Again, I don't know how I feel about this so make sure you let me know what you think. Laters, T-**_

XV

Damon had spent the better half of his morning scouring the boarding house trying to find Caroline. It wasn't until he heard the muffled sound of gunfire coming from the roof that he knew where she was. Climbing through the skylight in Stefan's room he found Caroline lying flat on her stomach in dark black skinny jeans, an equally black tank, and leather thigh-high boots that screamed 'Fuck me!' or maybe he was just imagining that last part. Damon took in the sight of the blonde vampire, her golden waves splayed across her back as she peered through the scope of the sniper rifle with silencer attached, earbuds nestled snuggly in her ears as she hummed quietly Britney Spears' 'Till The World Ends', an unlit cigarette perched between her pink lips. Damon sat next to Caroline who was completely oblivious to his presence and snatched the cigarette out of her mouth. Caroline jumped and quickly pulled the earbuds out of her ears.

"Jesus Damon! You scared the shit out of me," Caroline screeched with a scowl on her face.

"I thought you quit," Damon mumbled as he rolled the cigarette between his finger and thumb.

"It's not lit," Caroline said defiantly as she swiftly snatched the cancer stick out of Damon's hand. "I'm trying to lay off the candy and crap, but my severe oral fixation is getting the best of me." Damon raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"Oral fixation huh? I got something you can stick between those lips," Damon said slyly as he wiggled his eyebrows at her. Caroline rolled her eyes and flicked the cigarette so that it hit Damon in the forehead.

"You are seriously the skeeviest person I have ever met," Caroline grumbled as she looked back through the scope of the rifle.

"What are you shooting at?" Damon asked as he scanned the woods surrounding the boarding house.

"Look," Caroline said simply, keeping her eye on the scope as she reached for a pair of binoculars and blindly handed them to Damon. Damon frowned slightly as he raised the binoculars to his eyes and looked in the direction that the sniper rifle was aimed.

"Jesus," Damon hissed through his teeth as he spotted what Caroline was looking at. A huge hoard of zombies was trudging through the woods like a mass herd of brain eating cannibals. "How many of them do you think there are?" Caroline shrugged, moving the rifle slightly to the right.

"A couple hundred at least. I've just been shooting at the stragglers that leave the pack."

"Where the hell do you think they're going?" Damon asked as he continued to survey the limping, groaning mass of the undead.

"Beats me," Caroline said before firing a shot, hitting a wandering zombie between the eyes. "Here," Caroline said as she sat up and pulled the binoculars out of Damon's hands and replaced them with another sniper rifle. "Make yourself useful," Caroline finished as she once again lay down on her stomach and peered through the scope. Damon followed suit, scooting down so that he was on his stomach against the shingled roof next to Caroline and focused his scope as Caroline took another shot.

"Next one's mine Blondie," Damon murmured as he took aim at a small zombie that was once a little girl.

"Don't do it Damon," Caroline said as she spotted what Damon was aiming at.

"Why the hell not?" Damon asked as he cocked the gun so that the bullets went from the clip to the chamber.

"Cause it's a little girl!" Caroline half yelled. Damon furrowed his brow but did not take his eye off the zombie tot.

"Was. Now it's just a pint-sized brain muncher," Damon said and fired, hitting the walking corpse in the forehead.

"Ugh…Damon!" Caroline groaned as she pushed herself up into a squatting position.

"Come on Blondie, get a grip. That pint-sized zombie in pigtails would chew your brains out just as fast as any one of them," Damon said as he sat up and lit the cigarette that Caroline had flicked at him.

"You're a sadist Damon Salvatore and you would've killed her even if she was human," Caroline said as she took the cigarette out of Damon's hand and took a drag from it.

"And you're an angel disguised as a demon with fangs and sniper rifles," Damon said thoughtfully as he snatched the cigarette back from Caroline. "Aren't we quite the pair?"

"Speaking of disguises," Caroline said as she leaned back against the roof and looked up at the gray sky, "Halloween is in like two weeks." Damon coughed and choked on the smoke. "It's not funny Damon. I think we should do something."

"You're kidding right? Because every fucking day in this fucking town is fucking Halloween Caroline!" Caroline chewed on her bottom lip as she struggled against the urge to laugh at Damon's outburst.

"Hmm, you're right I guess. But I still want to dress up and have a little party or something," Caroline paused and closed her eyes as she envisioned different themes.

"You're right, Caroline. I'll be a vampire with a pair of Devil's horns. You can also be a vampire, but with angel wings. Stefan can be a vampire too, maybe an Emo-Vamp. Bonnie can be a witch. Matt can be a quarterback. What should Elena be? Eh, let's just make her a zombie." Damon rambled on with sarcasm dripping off of every word. Caroline rolled her eyes and was about to smack him when an idea struck her, possibly the best idea ever, and quickly shot upright and clapped her hands together.

"Jersey Shore!" Caroline said excitedly. Damon quickly stood and raised his hands defensively as he took a couple steps back.

"No fucking way am I dressing up as an over-tanned, meat-headed, Guido! I'd rather be fucking Dracula!" Caroline hopped up and clapped her hands again excitedly when suddenly she lost her footing on the slick shingles of the roof. Before Damon could react she had slid off the roof and hit the ground hard.

"Owww…" Caroline groaned.

"You alright Blondie?" Damon asked as he peered down at Caroline while still standing on the roof.

"Yeah…." Caroline moaned as she rubbed the heel of her hand against her forehead.

"Good. Don't move." Damon said and was suddenly out of Caroline's view.

"Damon, I'm ok," Caroline mumbled as she started to push herself off the ground when suddenly the pint-sized zombie that Damon had shot earlier lunged toward her. "Ahh!" Caroline screamed as she kicked the zombie in the stomach. In a flash Damon appeared in front of Caroline and shot the head off the zombie girl.

"I think this is the part where I say 'I told you so'" Damon smirked as he offered his hand to Caroline and pulled her up roughly. Caroline pushed Damon, catching him off guard; he landed directly in the guts of the corpse that he had just shot. Turning away without a second glance, Caroline brushed off her pants and headed back towards to the boarding house.

"You suck," Caroline said before slamming the door shut.


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N – OK wanted to get this out before the weekend and I didn't proof read it at all so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Shout-out to Starzee for being the 200**__**th**__** reviewer! This story is coming to an end, but not quite yet, but as you'll see in this chapter Damon and Caroline really need to start dealing with their feelings ;) Don't forget to hit that 'review' button!**_

XVI

It was All Hallows Eve. Caroline and Bonnie were busy decorating the boarding house for Caroline's Halloween party. The Jersey Shore theme was nixed due to much griping from the boys but Caroline was still determined to throw a party. Bonnie was busy wrestling with a large white sheet that was supposed to be a ghost while Caroline strung orange Christmas lights throughout the main room of the house and through the halls. It had been several hours of some serious decorating and Caroline was still not happy with the outcome.

"Hey Bon? I'm gonna run over to the school and grab some more decorations," Caroline said as she headed for the door.

"Alright," Bonnie said as the giant white sheet fell from the ceiling and landed on her head. It wasn't until five minutes later that Bonnie noticed that Caroline had left her shot gun resting next to the door. "Shit," Bonnie cursed. "Damon!"

"What is it Bonnie?" Damon asked as he walked down the stairs, noticing Bonnie struggling with a plastic skeleton.

"Caroline went to the school to get some more decorations," Bonnie said as she threw the skeleton to the ground in frustration.

"Really?" Damon asked as he looked around the room which looked pretty well decorated to him. In fact it reminded him of a really cheesy fun house.

"She forgot her gun Damon!" Bonnie screamed as she flapped her arms in the air, pulling his attention back to the witch.

"What do you mean she forgot her gun?" Damon yelled as he took a threatening step towards Bonnie causing her to take a step back defensively.

"Look!" Bonnie shouted in a panic as she pointed to the shot gun. "I don't know if she has a spare in her car, but this one is still here."

"Of course she doesn't! It's fucking Caroline and she's probably already dead," Damon said as he stormed out of the boarding house, grabbing Caroline's shot gun on the way out.

xXx

Caroline didn't realize that she had forgotten her weapon until she had already pulled into the school's parking lot, and she really wasn't in the mood to turn around and go all the way back to grab it. She's a bad-ass vampire anyway. Those zombies don't stand a chance. Right?

Entering the school as quietly as possible, Caroline made a mad dash for the art department. In the distance she could hear the faint groaning of the undead but pushed her fear to the side as she convinced herself that they were probably in another wing of the building. Silently, Caroline entered one of the art rooms and headed straight for the supply closet, breathing a sigh of relief when she had safely reached her destination unscathed. Standing on her tip toes she struggled to reach for a large plastic bin that was resting on the top shelf. Suddenly she heard the door open and froze mid-reach. Before she could even blink, Damon was in the supply closet with her, his hand roughly covering her mouth as she let out a scream. Turning her around he roughly pushed her up against the shelves causing a large plastic container of gold glitter to tip over and sprinkle down on them like little shiny stars.

"Damon!" Caroline yelled against his hand. Damon only pressed harder against her mouth as he glared down at her.

"Shh! Shut up!" Damon hissed as he glared at her. "Are you stupid Blondie?" he continued on. "Do you honestly have a death wish? Please tell me if you do because I will be _more_ than fucking happy to take care of that for you!" Caroline looked up at Damon helplessly, his hand still firmly placed against her mouth as he whisper-yelled at her. _Holy shit he's mad._ Pushing her shock from Damon's sudden appearance and outburst to the side she let her frustration with the raven haired vampire come to the fore-front. Glaring up at Damon she roughly smacked the hand that was covering her mouth to the side.

"I was perfectly fine Damon!" Caroline hissed as she jabbed her finger into Damon's chest. "In fact I didn't have a care in the fucking world until you came barging in here scaring me half to death and threatening to kill me!" Caroline tried to push past Damon but was unsuccessful as he roughly grabbed her by the shoulders and once again pushed her against the wooden shelves.

"I have half the mind to put you in your place Blondie," Damon snarled. _Seriously?! Is he fucking serious right now? _Caroline snapped and slapped Damon.

"Put me in my place?! I don't belong to you Damon Salvatore and if I want to make stupid dumb-ass choices like forgetting my gun and going into a zombie-infested high school I fucking will and don't think for a fucking minute that it's _your place_ to come here and save me!"

Caroline pushed Damon off of her with all her force and sped out of the art room, the party decorations long forgotten. Damon was fast on her heels however and roughly grabbed her arm just as they reached the parking lot. Caroline turned and snarled, her fangs bared. Oh she was so fucking done with playing this game, and pushed Damon again, causing him to hit the doors that they just exited from. Running to the Escalade she quickly hopped in and slammed the door shut just as Damon was getting into his Camaro. Caroline hit the gas and burnt rubber as she sped out of the school's parking lot and headed back to the boarding house, the blue Camaro only inches behind her rear bumper.

Pulling up to the boarding house Caroline jumped out of the Escalade just as Damon pulled in behind her.

"Just stop Caroline!" Damon yelled as he jumped out of his car.

"Leave me alone Damon!" Caroline screamed as she stormed up the steps and entered the boarding house. Caroline tried to slam the door in Damon's face but he was too fast and was right next to her as she walked into the entryway.

"Hey, you guys are sparkly. Are you Edward and Bella?" Matt asked as he came down the stairs and spotted Damon and Caroline covered in gold glitter.

"Shut up!" the pair screamed in unison as they stormed off in separate directions.


	17. Chapter 17

XVII

Caroline had fallen off the wagon. Hard. Sitting on the floor in her bedroom, surrounded by candy wrappers and empty bags of potato chips and boxes of cookies, a lot of cookies. A tornado had swept through Mystic Falls, metaphorically of course. Really, it was just Caroline and Damon fighting, screaming, battling really. Things had only escalated and gotten worse after the whole going to Mystic Falls High School and forgetting her _gun _thing. Ever since then the pair had been at each other's throats and really not in a good way. Much of the Boarding House was in shambles from their brawling and the other housemates had made a point to stay clear of the pair in recent days. Caroline threw an empty box of cookies across her room as she desperately searched on all fours for something to sate her misery.

_Knock, Knock._

"Not in the mood Damon!" Caroline yelled as she threw another empty box.

_"It's not Damon." _ Caroline paused for a moment, elbow deep in a bag of Ruffles.

"Not in the mood Stefan!"

_"Caroline, please open the door." _Caroline chewed on a mouthful of chips as she stared at the dresser blocking the door.

"Are zombies invading the house?"

_"No…"_

"Go away Stefan!" Caroline yelled before shoving another fistful of chips into her mouth.

_"Please open the door Caroline. Everyone is worried and Elena's going to kill me if I don't talk to you." _Caroline stared at the barricaded door with a scowl before she finally relented and pushed the heavy mahogany dresser out of the way. Slowly Stefan cracked open the door and cautiously took a step in. "Hey," Stefan said softly as he looked down at Caroline who was still crouched on the floor.

"I only let you in cause I'd probably be a little sad if Elena staked you," Caroline mumbled as she fished through the sea of plastic wrappers in search of something sweet.

"Well its good know you care" Stefan said as he squatted down to Caroline's level. "Listen Care, I don't really know what's been going on between you and Damon but I think you should try and talk to him," Stefan continued as he helped Caroline scour through the candy wrappers and dug out a fun-size Snickers bar. Smiling slightly he handed Caroline the chocolaty goodness who in turn snatched it roughly from his hand, peeled off the wrapper with vampire speed, and shoved the entire piece into her mouth as she glared at Stefan.

"You're right Stefan. You have no fucking clue what's been going on between Damon and I. And to be perfectly honest, I'd be perfectly happy if I never saw that dick-wad's face ever again. _Ev-er._"

"Ouch, Blondie. That hurt, right here," Damon said as he pointed at his chest while standing at a safe distance just outside of the doorway. "But deeper." In a flash Caroline was up and ready to pounce on Damon, her fangs bared as she hissed, but Stefan was quicker and firmly wrapped his arms around her from behind as he struggled to hold her back.

"Stop Caroline!" Stefan yelled as she flailed her arms and continued to hiss at Damon who took a step back further into the hallway.

"Yeah Blondie, stop," Damon said with his obnoxious smirk.

"Not _helping_ Damon," Stefan snarled through his teeth as he struggled to hold the baby vampire back.

"Fuck you Damon! Just leave me alone!" Caroline screamed as Damon stuck his tongue out at her.

"Enough!" Stefan yelled as he dragged Caroline to her bed and roughly sat her down. "You're both going to sit down," Stefan continued as he grabbed Damon by the arm, dragged him to Caroline's desk chair, and sat him down as well. "And talk this out!" He finished as he proceeded to stalk out of Caroline's bedroom, slammed the door shut, and locked it from the outside.

"Newsflash Stefan! We're _vampires_! A locked door is not going to keep us in here!" Damon yelled at the locked door, but Stefan was already down the stairs and out the front door, making sure to keep a safe distance from the feuding vampires.

"This is stupid," Caroline grumbled as she stood up from the bed and started for her door. Damon was quick to his feet however and in flash was directly in Caroline's path. "Move Damon," Caroline said as she tried to sidestep her way around him.

"Why the frown, Charlie Brown?" Damon said as he matched Caroline's step and once again blocked her path. Caroline tried not to smile at Damon's stupid, _stupid_ little rhyme but couldn't which only made her madder making her push Damon out of her way. "Hey!" Damon yelled as he quickly recovered and grabbed Caroline by her shoulders forcing her to once again halt her paces.

"Just leave me _alone_ Damon," Caroline growled, refusing to look up at those crazy, sexy, icy blue eyes.

"Not till you apologize," Damon said lowly as he placed his finger under her chin and tilted her face up, forcing her to look at him.

"I am _so_ not the one who needs to be apologizing here!" Caroline screamed as she balled her fists, once again ready to strike. Damon frowned as he observed the rage that was flowing over Caroline in violent waves.

"Why are you so _angry_ Caroline? I was over it like two days ago and you've just been hulled up in here obviously percolating over your hatred for me while stuffing your pretty little face with junk food. This is really not a healthy way to live," Damon said as he searched Caroline's sapphire eyes.

"Why am I angry?!" Caroline screeched. "Because you're always _here_ Damon! You're like a fly that keeps buzzing around. You come storming into my life and you say these _things_ and do these _things_ that make me want to fall for you all over again. And then you do these other _things_, _stupid_ _things _that just make me want to rip your _fucking heart out. _And seriously Damon?! I feel like I'm losing my damn mind and it's all because of you. I hate you and I love you all in the same breath." Caroline inhaled sharply because that was a whole lot of words in one breath and looked up at Damon helplessly; mad at him for making her feel this way, and mad at herself for telling him that's the way he makes her feel. "Please just let me go Damon," Caroline said softly and defeated.

"Never," Damon said simply as he lowered his mouth onto hers and kissed her gently before pulling back. "I can't let you go, and I can't leave you alone. And I'm sorry if I drive you completely mad, but really, you do the same exact thing to me. I want to kiss you and rip your head off all in the same moment sometimes and it drives me crazy. My feelings for you are overwhelming and always hovering over the fine line between love and hate but for whatever reason love always wins out. So no, Caroline, I am not going to let you go." Gently wiping away Caroline's tears off of her cheeks he once again lowered his mouth onto hers, tasting a heady mixture of chocolate and salt from her tears. "I love you and I hate you," Damon said against her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I hate you and I love you too Damon Salvatore," Caroline said with a smile before pulling him into a passionate kiss.

_**A/N – OK I had to put some Steroline goodness in here after last week's episode. I just couldn't help myself. :D So this is the end, though I want to do an epilogue with some really kick-ass Daroline fluff, but can you have an epilogue if you never did a prologue? Whatever, I'm still doing it. So don't forget to tell me what you think and shower me with your love because I love you guys and your reviews. Aww I'm a little sad this story is almost over! But all good things and crack-fics have to come to an end at some point. Laters, T-**_


	18. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

_My Dearest Nik,_

_ It's been 227 days since the world went to Hell. 227 days since I last saw your beautiful face. So much has happened since then. I have been to Hell and back as I struggled to deal with your death; drowning my sorrows in junk food, killing zombies for sport, getting in fist fights with Damon. It's funny when I actually take the time to think about it. The person that I can stand the least in this world ended up being my savior. I know you wouldn't be happy if you found out that I am with Damon now, especially after all the things that he had done in the past. And trust me, he's far from perfect, and there are many days when all I want to do is rip his fucking head off, but underneath all of that hate that I have carried around for him over the years, I actually found love. I found that he loves me. _

_This is not the way it was supposed to go Nik. I was supposed to be spending my eternity with you, living our Happily Ever After. It turns out that Fate is a narcissistic bitch, who thought it would be oh-so-funny to kill the Original Hybrid and leave me here, on this earth to fight the zombie apocalypse with none other than Damon Salvatore. I didn't plan for this to happen Nik, not this way, but it has and I feel like I might finally be ready to move on. There will always be a special place in my heart for you, and maybe if I ever get the privilege of really truly dying, I'll see you on the Other Side. I love you Nik. I will always love you. But it is time for me to move forward with my life and crazy as it may sound, Damon will be at my side._

_Yours Forever,_

_Caroline_

Caroline neatly folded the letter in half and placed it on top of her torn lace wedding dress that lay neatly folded in a large cardboard box. Wiping a couple of tears from her eyes, she heard Damon's footsteps come up behind her.

"Hey, you alright?" Damon asked softly as he knelt down beside Caroline and lightly rubbed her back. Caroline nodded as she wiped at a couple more stray tears.

"Yeah…I'm fine," Caroline started as she looked up at Damon and smiled sweetly. "Just saying goodbye," Caroline finished as she reached up and pulled her hair over her shoulder revealing a simple gold chain that her engagement ring from Klaus hung from. "Can you help me?" Ever since Damon had proposed with a sapphire and topaz ring, Caroline had kept Klaus' engagement ring around her neck. Damon was a little annoyed that Caroline couldn't just get rid of the ring, but deep down he understood and let it go quickly.

"Are you sure you're ready to take it off?" Damon whispered quietly as his fingertips brushed against the back of her neck.

"It's time. I mean, we're getting married in a couple of days," Caroline said with feigned conviction as she ran her fingers nervously through her hair. Damon nodded silently though he knew she couldn't see him. He knew she was doing this more for him than for herself. With nimble fingers he unclasped the gold chain and pulled it away from her neck, placing the chain and solitaire diamond ring into the palm of her hand. Caroline took a sharp breath in as she looked down at the diamond ring. Bringing it to her mouth, she lightly placed a kiss on the ring then placed it into the box on top of her dress and letter. Damon watched as she stared at the open box for a long moment, quietly whispered 'I love you' and finally put the lid on and pushed the box into the open closet that she was sitting in front of. Gently, Damon stroked his fingers through her golden waves as he tried to pull her back to the here and now.

"Do you still want to go secure the church?" Damon asked as he lightly placed a kiss on her temple. Caroline smiled and nodded as she wrapped her arms tightly around Damon's waist and buried her face into his chest, inhaling deeply as she took in the scent of him.

"Yeah, we only have a couple of days left and I don't want any brain muncher's sitting in the pews uninvited," Caroline said as she pulled away from Damon and quickly stood up, happy that she had something tangible to focus on to distract herself from her thoughts of Klaus. Damon also stood and followed Caroline out of their room, grabbed their shot guns that rested by the front door and climbed into the driver's side of the Escalade as Caroline patiently waited in the passenger's seat. "You know, it's been almost a year since I flipped the Escalade, I'm perfectly capable of driving Damon," Caroline said slightly annoyed that she was forever the passenger in her own car.

"Sorry Blondie, not gonna happen," Damon said simply as he started the ignition and pulled out of the long drive. Caroline pouted as she reached for the radio. If she couldn't drive she'd at least be in control of the radio. Damon rolled his eyes as Bruno Mars blasted through the speakers and Caroline munched on a bag of Cheetos.

"You know it's kind of funny that two vampires are about to get married in a church with no priest during the zombie apocalypse," Damon said as he pulled in front of the church and put the Escalade in park.

"It's important to me Damon," Caroline said defensively as she handed him his shot gun and grabbed her own.

"I know, I'm just saying it's funny," Damon said as he climbed out of the Escalade and grabbed a set of heavy chains from the backseat. Reaching the wooden doors, Damon tossed the chains onto the ground and pressed his ear against the solid oak. "There's quite a few in there. Did you bring the extra shells?" Caroline nodded as she patted her leather satchel. "Alright, let's go on three. One…"

"Wait!" Caroline hissed, interrupting Damon. "On three, or three and then go?"

"What?"

"Nevermind." Damon shook his head as he started to count again.

"One, two,…"

"Go! Let's go! Right now!" Caroline yelled as she cocked her gun and pushed against the door, sick of this counting nonsense.

"What's wrong with you?" Damon growled as he entered the church behind Caroline. "I said go on three! Not two! One three! It's always three!" But Caroline ignored Damon's rant as she began firing her gun, and as Damon stepped beside her, matching her shots with his own, the casings of the shot gun shells falling around their feet, this story ended much like it began. And though this wasn't Caroline's idea of Happily Ever After, in some strange twisted way it was perfect and it was love.

_Fin._


End file.
